England Hockey Board (EHB) non executive Chairman Philip Kimberley and Performance Director David Faulkner have jointly been awarded the trophy for outstanding contribution to British sport off the field of play at the British Sports Awards.
The awards, made on behalf of the Sports Journalists' Association's 700-plus members, were presented at the annual British Sports Awards lunch, sponsored by UK Sport and Sky Bet, and staged at The Brewery in London.
Kimberley and Faulkner were presented with the award for their work behind the scenes in helping to steer England's men to gold medal success at this summer's EuroHockey Nations Championships.
Speaking after picking up the award a thrilled Kimberley called it a ÔÇ£great honor and a privilege to be recognized for what the sport has done.ÔÇØ
ÔÇ£What I have done is lead a team at the governing body that has rebuilt itself over the last few years; it has really been a team effort. It's nice for the sport to have some recognition for the work that has been done. It has taken six years of hard work to get to a place where we should have been when I arrived into a bankrupt organization in 2003. The work is far from done. It is a continuous journey at both grass roots level and the elite end of the sport.ÔÇØ
David Faulkner, who joined England Hockey [the former name of the EHB] as its Performance Director in April 2005 was equally thrilled, saying: ÔÇ£I'm pleased for Philip because he has laid the foundations for our recent success and hopefully more going forward. When he came in he had to restructure the organization to put it on a more professional footing and that has given us the platform to build on.
ÔÇ£I'm equally pleased for hockey as this award just serves to demonstrate the journey on which we have come. It's a great reflection of where the sport stands, not just in hockey but among other sports and the media.ÔÇØ
Congratulating her colleagues on their achievement, EHB Chief Executive Sally Munday said: ÔÇ£I am truly delighted for both Philip and David. Philip's leadership of the National Governing Body since 2003 has been nothing short of exceptional.
ÔÇ£The stability of the organization has provided a solid platform for our international teams to develop and improve and David's management of our elite program is now starting to bear fruit on the international stage. I am so pleased they have both been recognized and I am sure the hockey family will join me in congratulating them on receiving this award.ÔÇØ
Kimberley and Faulkner join a long list of illustrious sporting names who have previously won the award including Sir Trevor Brooking (1995), Ian McGeechan (1997), Sir Bobby Charlton (1998), Sir Clive Woodward (2003), Dave Brailsford (2005), Judy Murray (2007) and Simon Clegg (2008)
Source: England Hockey Board
